David Reinbacher Could Be The Most Complete Defenseman on the Habs

When it comes to Reinbacher, Cloutier admits he is the President of the David Reinbacher fan club, and although controversial, he says he would still take Reinbacher over Matvei Michkov, even with everything we know now. In reality, it makes sense given the fact that the Habs eventually got their potential Russian superstar winger the next year in Ivan Demidov. Not only that, but a player like Reinbacher is also a hard find for teams unless they draft them. Top 4 right-handed defensemen are genuinely harder to find than a left-handed top 4 defenseman, meaning Reinbacher, if he can stay healthy, is something that fits the Habs puzzle into becoming NHL Stanley Cup contenders in the near future.

I may have mentioned that Reinbacher is looking like he may be a right-handed version of Kaiden Guhle in the past, which is why he is expected to be the best fit in the organization to play next to Lane Hutson for the next decade. However, I never mentioned how finding a right-handed version of Guhle is much harder than finding Guhle himself because there are many fewer right-handed players in the NHL.

Currently, around 60-64% of players shoot left-handed, which almost doubles the number of right-handed players in the NHL. With the potential that Reinbacher has as a defenseman already, it shoots up greatly just because of his handedness. This is the exact reason GM Kent Hughes has mentioned that trading David Reinbacher is almost a non-negotiable unless he gets a truly mind-blowing offer in return, which hasn’t happened. However, Cloutier does mention how every organization outside Montreal would love to get Reinbacher if it were possible.

After a few mistakes during the Rookie Showcase, many Habs were quick to criticize Reinbacher’s abilities and say he may never be the guy the Habs are hoping for. Luckily, those fans aren’t the ones who run the Canadiens. Truthfully, Reinbacher brings the perfect package of size, skating, physicality and a developing booming shot that has made him look like he could be a star one day. The best example came during Game 2 of the Laval Rocket vs. Charlotte Checkers series. Despite the Rocket losing 5-2, Reinbacher played almost the perfect game as he shut down opposing forwards along the boards, getting them cornered by his big frame and put up a goal and assist.

Much like what Ohayon said in the clip above with Cloutier, I thought that the Habs have a truly special defenseman on their hands. Even though the Rookie Showcase wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t terrible either, and he was likely just getting back into the groove of playing real games. 

Hopefully, Reinbacher can stay healthy and show everyone who doubts him that he really can be that special shutdown defenseman who can chip in a decent amount of offense. No matter how well Reinbacher plays the rest of Training Camp, he should at least spend the first half of the season in Laval to continue refining his game before making the jump to the NHL in the 2nd half of the 2025-26 season or at the beginning of next year.

What do you think of Nicolas Cloutier’s claim that David Reinbacher has everything a team wants in a defenseman?